BELCHERTOWN — As Town Administrator Gary Brougham prepares to step down, Town Meeting voters will be asked next Monday to approve a change that would give Belchertown a town manager for the first time.

The article asks voters to authorize the Select Board to petition the Legislature to allow the board to appoint a town manager.

Select Board Chairman Jim Barry said Brougham had raised the issue several years ago, saying the town had grown to a point where it should have a manager rather than an administrator.

Barry said he agreed to look into it, and he learned that Massachusetts General Laws allow the board to hire an administrator, but not a town manager. So towns have to petition the Legislature to allow them to hire a manager.

The subject has been discussed over the last three years, and Barry said the consensus has been in favor of the change.

“The end result is not substantially different,” he said.

A town manager has more autonomy, he said, so the Select Board no longer would have to rubberstamp routine employee hires or the weekly payment of bills.

Neither a manager nor an administrator’s job is defined under law, Barry said.

“Managers generally have a bit more authority on a number of issues,” he said.

With the board on the point of hiring Brougham’s replacement, Barry said the legal restrictions mean the person hired will start as town administrator and, assuming voters approve the petition, will become town manager when the Legislature signs off on it.

The board interviewed three finalists last week and was set to meet Monday to discuss members’ preferences and possibly reach a hiring decision.

Town Meeting is scheduled to begin Monday, May 8, at 7:30 p.m., at Belchertown High School, 142 Springfield Road. A special Town Meeting will precede the regular meeting at 7 p.m. in the same location.

James Pentland can be reached at jpentland@gazettenet.com.]]>